How the referendum dilemma has renewed political unease in Mt Kenya region. Uhuru’s future?

President Uhuru Kenyatta with DP William Ruto during a meeting with governors in Bomet on October 22, 2018. /PSCU
PHOTO/COURTESY/PSCU

President Uhuru Kenyatta during an interview with CNN’s reporter Richard Quest maintained that he is not interested in any political office after the end of his second term in 2022.

He further cited that he is neither interested in extending his power nor taking any post created for him.

His response followed Quest’s quest on claims that there are plans to create him a post after 2022 since he was too young to retire from active politics.

The rebuff has thrown off sycophants from Mt Kenya who had mooted the idea as an incentive for supporting constitutional amendments, commonly couched as a referendum.

The proposal was also being crafted by politicians wary of the political future of the Central Kenya region after Uhuru’s exit. It would be a lifeline for remaining in power.

But have you ever imagined the route cause of all this Mt Kenya region uncertainty in Uhuru’s political future?

Since the March 9 handshake with NASA leader Raila Odinga, two camps have emerged in the Mt Kenya region proffering different stances on the 2022 presidential race.

One camp comprising mainly former lawmakers is pushing for Uhuru’s comeback in 2022 as Prime Minister and Raila as President where as another one is gravitating towards Deputy President William Ruto to assume the mantle.

Ruto’s supporters have read mischief in the Uhuru-Raila handshake, which they see as part of a wider scheme to scuttle the DP’s ascension to the top job in 2022.

Battle lines are already drawn between Ruto and Raila camps, but it is the President’s affirmation of his decision to exit from office in 2022 that has reignited the succession battle within Mt Kenya and nationally.

In May, Central Organisation of Trade Unions secretary general Francis Atwoli proposed that the Constitution be amended to bring Uhuru back as PM after completing his term in 2022.

Image result for kenyan political memes and gifs

The PM position would be modelled along the Russian system that saw President Vladmir Putin and Prime Minister Dmtry Medvedev swap positions at the end of Putin’s term.

In Putin’s case, after running for the constitutional two terms between 2000 and 2008, the Russian president had a power-switching operation on May 8, 2008, that saw first Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev elected his successor.

Immediately after handing the presidency to Medvedev, Putin was appointed Prime Minister of Russia, maintaining his political dominance.

The Bomas draft constitution proposed transferring the bulk of presidential powers to a prime minister elected by Parliament.

With the referendum debate gaining momentum since the handshake deal, the push to bring Uhuru back depicts heightening anxiety over who should be the beneficiary of the position if it is created.

Image result for kenyan political memes and gifs

Uhuru poured cold water on the agitation within his backyard for him to make a political comeback after 2022 by saying he does not contemplate a further third term in office even if the Constitution was amended to allow it.

The President is only one year-old in his second term, but there has been swirling anxiety in the Mt Kenya region that his exit could occasion a political vacuum with no clear successor.

Those pushing for him to stay on argue that there is no clear successor capable of attracting the support of major political and economic brokers from the region.

Some politicians have expressed lukewarm support for constitutional changes if they would reintroduce a parliamentary system to entrench the position of PM and accommodate Uhuru.

However, on Monday Uhuru appeared to suggest that amending the Constitution will not be about overburdening the taxpayers with the creation of more positions in government.

Uhuru, 57, will turn 62 years in 2022. His backers argue he will be “too young” to retire from national politics

More than 70 MPs from the region, who met in Naivasha on Monday for private talks, were forced to abandon Uhuru’s succession agenda after it proved divisive.

Instead, they scheduled a meeting with the President tomorrow to seek clarity on the matter and other economic issues affecting the region.

The politicians claimed that Jubilee had given the region a raw deal, despite getting overwhelming support during the 2013 and 2017 elections.

They argued that the region contributes up to 60 per cent of the GDP, but was only receiving 20 per cent of the national budget.

Consequently, the leaders have mapped out a development matrix they intend to push to enable its people to benefit from the government.

The development plan will be handed to the President tomorrow in Karatina. He is scheduled to hold private talks with the MPs from the region.

Image result for Irungu Kangata

Yesterday, Murang’a senator Irung’u Kang’ata admitted that the exit of Uhuru as President in 2022 would leave the region without a leader to push for its interests because he is the Kikuyu community’s spokesman.

The lawmaker confirmed that it is in light of the anticipated political vacuum that Mt Kenya politicians have stirred debate on Uhuru’s post-2022 role given that he still remains the region’s political kingpin and figurehead.

Don’t you think that the region has some leaders who can become Kingpins after Uhuru?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *